On 14 June 2011, countries worldwide celebrate World Blood Donor Day with events to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.
The theme for World Blood Donor Day 2011 is, "More blood. More life." This theme reinforces the urgent need for more people all over the world to become life-savers by volunteering to donate blood regularly.
Every year, countries throughout every region of the world organize a huge variety of events and activities to celebrate the day, from football matches to free concerts, and from mobile blood donation clinics to monumental decorations.
Why should we donate blood?
Safe blood saves lives and improves health. Blood transfusion is needed for:
women with complications of pregnancy, such as ectopic pregnancies and haemorrhage before, during or after childbirth;
children with severe anaemia often resulting from malaria or malnutrition;
people with severe trauma following accidents; and
many surgical and cancer patients.
It is also needed for regular transfusions for people with conditions such as thalassaemia and sickle cell disease and is used to make products such as clotting factors for people with haemophilia. There is a constant need for regular blood supply because blood can be stored for only a limited time before use. Regular blood donations by a sufficient number of healthy people are needed to ensure that safe blood will be available whenever and wherever it is needed.
Blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person - the gift of life. A decision to donate your blood can save a life or even several if your blood is separated into its components - red cells, platelets and plasma - which can be used individually for patients with specific conditions.
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